Diminishing Returns
312 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago - ★★★★★ - 17 ratingsThe podcast where film-fans, Sol Harris and Allen Turing, take a guest on a journey to Development Hell to discuss a film, then pitch their ideas for the sequel.
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Episodes
295 - Valentine's Day Special: Sugar Babies: A Cautionary Tale
February 12, 2024 00:00 - 1 hour - 142 MBSignificantly upping the ante from last year's pornographic Valentine's Day special (which reviewed 1972's Deep Throat), this year the show is taking on a much more modern porn movie. Including Diminisodes and the intros for classic episode re-releases, Sol has told Allen about this movie in detail several times now. But does Sugar Babies: A Cautionary Tale live up to the hype?
294 - Review of the Year 2023
December 25, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 153 MBMerry Christmas! Chicken bucket!
292 - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
August 13, 2023 22:55 - 1 hour - 111 MBWe did it! All five Indiana Jones movies reviewed for your listening pleasure.
293 - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
August 13, 2023 22:55 - 1 hour - 111 MBWe did it! All five Indiana Jones movies reviewed for your listening pleasure.
292 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
July 30, 2023 22:55 - 1 hour - 109 MBIf you like hearing people complain about things, this is the Indiana Jones episode for you!
291 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
July 16, 2023 22:55 - 1 hour - 92.4 MBMore like Indiana Jones and the Third Crusade.
289 - Raiders of the Lost Ark
June 19, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 105 MBWe want more Indie cred so we're doing all of them starting with Raiders.
288 - Oscars 2023: Part II
March 05, 2023 23:55 - 1 hour - 99.1 MBBoobedy-boo, the Diminishing Returns boys are back with the other half of this year's Best Picture nominees at the Academy Awards. Will the Oscar go to The Banshees of Inisherin, Top Gun: Maverick, Elvis, Women Talking, Everything Everywhere All at Once (or one of the films from last episode)?
287 - Oscars 2023
February 27, 2023 00:05 - 1 hour - 92.1 MBIt's the annual Diminishing Returns Oscars extravaganza -- and Calvin has seen a record number of this year's Best Picture nominees! Listen for the gang's thoughts on All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Fabelmans, Tar, Triangle of Sadness and more!
286 - Valentine's Day Special: Deep Throat
February 13, 2023 00:01 - 1 hour - 92.7 MBWe've finally done it. We've finally cut all pretenses and just covered an outright hardcore porn film for Valentine's Day. Hey, porn movies are still movies, guys.
285 - Review of the Year 2022
December 26, 2022 01:30 - 59 minutes - 50.6 MBBack so soon? It's review of the year time -- but with a twist!
284 - Christmas Special: Gremlins
December 19, 2022 00:05 - 1 hour - 57.5 MBDiminishing Returns is home for Christmas!
283 - Podcast of Horror VII: The Exorcist
October 31, 2022 00:59 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBDiminishing Returns is back with a Patreon-voted horror selection. It's The Exorcist just in time for Halloween.
281 - Ernest Goes to Camp
May 01, 2022 22:55 - 1 hour - 51.5 MBHey, Vern, have you heard about Diminishing Returns?
280 - Skyfall (with Calvin Dyson)
April 17, 2022 22:55 - 1 hour - 188 MBLet dey Skyfall! An dey crumbohl! James Bond is back and it's a big one.
279 - Easter Special: God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness (with Calvin Dyson)
April 03, 2022 23:37 - 1 hour - 45.1 MBTo get everyone into the Easter spirit, we're celebrating by watching a Patreon-selected bit of religious propaganda. This time, we're going back to the God's Not Dead franchise for the third entry in the series.
278 - Till Death Us Do Part (with The British Sitcom History Podcast)
March 20, 2022 23:55 - 1 hour - 212 MBThe British Sitcom History Podcast is back for round three! This time, we're taking on the two movie spin-offs of controversial '60s sitcom Till Death Us Do Part -- Till Death Us Do Part (1968) and The Alf Garnett Saga (1972).
276 - Diminishing Returns Are Dead (with Thomas Turgoose, Andrew Ellis, Calvin Dyson and more)
February 20, 2022 23:55 - 1 hour - 147 MBA seance brings a number of never-heard-before clips back from the dead, featuring Thomas Turgoose, Andrew Ellis, Calvin Dyson, Judey Bignell, Conor Murray, Grace Miller, Emily Slade, Nicky Diss and Cubby R. Broccoli.
275 - Valentine's Day Special: Showgirls (with Calvin Dyson)
February 07, 2022 00:05 - 1 hour - 73.6 MBSol is single again, so the sex anecdotes are plentiful. Oh, also, we talk about Showgirls because our Patreon supporters voted for it.
274 - Review of the Year 2021: Part II (with Calvin Dyson)
January 24, 2022 01:00 - 1 hour - 179 MBSeeing out the year in style – and only a month later than everyone else did. By the way, we've heard some of you like James Bond. Listen for our (and guest Calvin Dyson's) thoughts on No Time to Die, along with a whole load of other 2021 films.
273 - Review of the Year 2021 (with Calvin Dyson)
January 10, 2022 11:02 - 1 hour - 208 MBIt's 2022! Time to look back at 2021, right? Hear our thoughts on everything from A Quiet Place: Part II to Coming 2 America to Gozilla vs. Kong to Mortal Kombat to The Forever Purge... and more, obviously!
272 - Christmas Special: The Star Wars Holiday Special
December 27, 2021 14:27 - 42 minutes - 96.3 MBIt's a holiday special about a holiday special! What is this? A podcast directed by Christopher Nolan?
271 - Kingsman: The Golden Circle (with Calvin Dyson)
December 12, 2021 23:55 - 1 hour - 246 MBThis episode was recorded over a year ago and has been sat on an exclusive Patreon shelf ever since thanks to The King's Man being delayed. Just like with the eventual release of our The Purge episode earlier this year, it's now a super-sexy time capsule from a more complicated time. Also: Calvin's back!
270 - Keanuvember: Speed (with Nightmares from the Discotheque)
November 29, 2021 01:37 - 55 minutes - 37 MBKeanuvember concludes with a look at Speed, perhaps the greatest Keanu Reeves movie of all time. Joining us are Rick Schaple and Canz Rickman (collectively: Nightmares from the Discotheque) who have written songs about things like Die Hard. Who better to talk about Die Hard on a bus?
269 - Keanuvember: The Matrix (with Jeremy Kaplowitz)
November 14, 2021 23:55 - 1 hour - 52.2 MBKeanuvember rolls on with special guest Jeremy Kaplowitz and a look at Keanu's magnum opus: The Matrix (and its lesser sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions) - just in time for The Matrix Resurrections.
268 - Keanuvember: John Wick (with Alice Fraser)
November 01, 2021 02:32 - 45 minutes - 104 MBIt's Keanuvember! Our entire month of Keanu Reeves begins with a look at the no-holds-barred John Wick franchise, thanks to special guest Alice R. Fraser!
267 - Podcast of Horror VI - Live! (with Calvin Dyson and Gareth Allen)
October 17, 2021 22:55 - 59 minutes - 137 MBIt's an (extremely visual) live Halloween spectacular! This episode was broadcast exclusively to Patreon subscribers on the 6th of October and now you're getting a (severely truncated) audio edit. The video version will be posted to our YouTube channel closer to Halloween, so keep your eyes peeled.
266 - Grown Ups 2 (with Tim Batt of The Worst Idea of All Time)
October 03, 2021 22:55 - 58 minutes - 134 MBIt's the second-worst idea of all time as Tim Batt joins us to dredge up past trauma by revisiting Grown Ups 2, a film he watched and reviewed once a week as part of The Worst Idea of All Time podcast, back in 2014. Is Chris Rock better than this? Did South Park end Rob Schneider's career? Did Grown Ups 2 inspire Quentin Tarantino to make Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? All this and more in Diminishing Returns!
265 - Quantum of Solace (with Calvin Dyson)
September 19, 2021 22:55 - 1 hour - 172 MBNo Time to Die is (allegedly) finally being released! To mark the occasion, we're marching on from the ending of Casino Royale and straight into the beginning of Quantum of Solace, the Bond movie that was infamously written on the fly thanks to the 2007 writers' strike. Will Sol stay true to his contrarian nature and actually like this one? Someone's got to because Calvin certainly doesn't.
264 - The Inbetweeners Movie (with The British Sitcom History Podcast)
September 05, 2021 22:55 - 57 minutes - 132 MBThe British Sitcom History Podcast is back for its second series, so it's crossover episode #2: this time looking at the film that singlehandedly relaunched the Britcom movie genre.
263 - Candyman (with Calvin Dyson)
August 22, 2021 22:55 - 1 hour - 176 MBCandyman, Candyman, Candyman, Candyman... well, we definitely say it five times over the course of this episode, so that's what happened to us if this ends up being the last episode of Diminishing Returns. Yes, Calvin is here to help us tackle the Candyman trilogy (the 1992 original, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and Candyman: Day of the Dead) as well as to discuss the upcoming 2021 Candyman sequel / reboot from Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele.
262 - Arrival (with Grammar Girl)
August 08, 2021 22:57 - 54 minutes - 125 MBWe're joined by Grammar Girl herself, Mignon Fogarty, for a look at Denis Villeneuve's Oscar-nominated, language-based sci-fi movie in which Amy Adams attempts to communicate with space aliens against a ticking clock. Will the show ever get the phrase "cinema unawarité" added to the dictionary? Is the video game Fortnite a pun? Do Allen and Sol like the film more than back when they covered it as part of 2017's Oscar season? All this a more in this edition of Diminishing Returns! This year...
261 - The Podcast Does an Outtakes Show (with Calvin Dyson and Judey Bignell)
July 25, 2021 22:55 - 1 hour - 141 MBIt's outtakes time, leds! Featuring everything from James Bond to zombies to Fifty Shades of filth.
260 - Space Jam (with Chris Antista)
July 11, 2021 22:55 - 50 minutes - 115 MBSpace Jam, I always wanted you to go into space, jam (intergalactic Chris). Yes, our latest offering is a deep dive into the peak-'90s cinematic monstrosity that is Space Jam. Joining us is special guest, animation expert and host of numerous Laser Time podcast network shows, Chris Antista!
259 - The Purge (with Calvin Dyson)
June 27, 2021 22:55 - 1 hour - 239 MBCalvin's back, everyone! Well, sort of. This episode was recorded over a year ago to coincide with the original release of The Forever Purge. When COVID delayed the movie, this episode got put on a shelf... until now! We walk through every last entry in the The Purge franchise, even the TV series!
258 - Jackie Chan and Armour of God (with Imran Yusuf)
June 13, 2021 22:55 - 53 minutes - 122 MBWe're joined by Chan-fan, Imran Yusuf, for a Jackie Chan deep-dive focused on 1986 martial arts classic Armour of God.
257 - Rushmore (with Allie Goertz)
May 30, 2021 22:55 - 46 minutes - 107 MBWe're joined by musician, former editor of MAD Magazine and all round quality-comedy-person, Allie Goertz, for a look at one of her favourite non-Simpsons things: 1998 Wes Anderson movie, Rushmore.
256 - Pretty Woman (with Dr. Wendy Walsh)
May 16, 2021 22:55 - 59 minutes - 137 MBThe ever informative Dr. Wendy Walsh (Mating Matters, Time Magazine Person of the Year 2017) joins us to discuss classic rom-com Pretty Woman (and to psychoanalyse Allen's sex-life). Is the classic Julia Roberts / Richard Gere pairing a fluffy fairytale dream or an insidious, problematic nightmare? Listen to find out.
255 - Casino Royale (2006) (with Calvin Dyson)
May 02, 2021 22:55 - 1 hour - 197 MBIn a heartfelt apology for the hilarious April Fools' prank we pulled last month, here's a sincere, legitimate bit of film analysis focused in on the 2006 version of Casino Royale - the real one, starring Daniel Craig - that you wanted to hear us discuss in the first place.
254 - Oscars 2021
April 18, 2021 22:55 - 1 hour - 200 MBIt's the fifth annual Diminishing Returns Oscars special, in which Sol and Allen review each of 2021's Best Picture nominees in the order of least to most diverse.
253 - Mortal Kombat (with Ashley Esqueda)
April 04, 2021 22:55 - 58 minutes - 133 MBWith the new Mortal Kombat movie in our sights, Diminishing Returns take a trip back to 1995's cinematic abomination, directed by Sol's arch-enemy, Paul W.S. Anderson. Joining us for this, as well as a look at 1997's Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, is writer, host of Stream Economy and Senior Editor of CNET, Ashley Esqueda!
252 - Casino Royale (with Calvin Dyson)
March 28, 2021 22:55 - 1 hour - 182 MBIt's an exciting week at Diminishing Returns as we're joined by Calvin Dyson to finally discuss Casino Royale. Will this be the James Bond movie to win over Sol and Allen?
251 - May Day Special(?): The Wicker Man (with Calvin Dyson)
March 21, 2021 23:55 - 1 hour - 158 MBIt's time for our annual Diminishing Returns Easter Special where we take a look at a piece of religious cinema. We let Patreon choose the film we'd cover and they wanted The Wicker Man. We threw in the awkward spiritual sequel The Wicker Tree as well, because we're nice like that. There's even talk of the unmade third Wicker Man movie, The Wrath of the Gods.
250 - You Only Live Twice (Twice): Diminishing Returns Returns! (with Calvin Dyson & Japanese Bond)
March 14, 2021 23:55 - 1 hour - 261 MBTo celebrate our landmark 250th episode, we let our Patreon-subscribers decide which film we should cover again (out of everything in our first 200 episodes). They wanted us to do You Only Live Twice... twice.
249 - King Kong vs. Godzilla (with James Perkins)
March 07, 2021 23:55 - 44 minutes - 102 MBWe technically covered King Kong vs. Godzilla back during our King Kong episode in 2017 (episode #40) but Godzilla set an early precedent for "raiding again" and so, this week, we're joined by film-maker and critic, James Perkins, for an enthusiastic Diminishing Returns kaiju-konversation©. We had to do something what with Godzilla vs. Kong coming out later this month!
248 - Coming to America (with Gareth Allen)
February 28, 2021 23:55 - 59 minutes - 137 MBThe first of many 2020 Coronavirus time-capsule episodes where we covered a film tying into a new release, only for the film to be yanked from the schedule at the last minute. This time, it's our Coming to America episode, tying into Coming 2 America, which is out on Amazon Prime Video this week.
247 - Gladiator (with Kiel O'Shea)
February 21, 2021 23:55 - 1 hour - 82.6 MBFight choreographer and stage-combat instructor, Kiel O'Shea, stops by to help Diminishing Returns dissect Ridley Scott's Gladiator.